Physical comedy detracts from Pinchgut Opera's musically ravishing Orontea in Sydney

Jeremy Eccles was born in the UK, engaged with music at Dulwich College, Jurisprudence at Oxford and politics at the BBC. Then he made a sea-change to Radio Hong Kong - and culture entered his professional world. On to Australia in 1982, where culture took over, broadcasting on the ABC and writing in all national newspapers, mainly about the performing arts. He formed a local chapter of the International Association of Theatre Critics, contributed to The World of Theatre and edited two magazines. Later, Jeremy began reviewing opera for the Australian Financial Review and dance for the Sydney Review. Most of his writing (and the odd film) today is deep into Indigenous art and culture at aboriginalartdirectory.com, but he maintains a continuing engagement with opera - early, contemporary, on the Harbour and plain old Puccini.